Afghanistan

UN warns of rising maternal deaths in Afghanistan after US funding freeze

A hospital in Afghanistan. File photo.

GENEVA — A U.S. funding freeze on foreign aid could leave millions of Afghans without access to sexual and reproductive health services, potentially leading to more than 1,000 maternal deaths in Afghanistan between 2025 and 2028, a United Nations aid official warned on Tuesday.

According to Reuters report, Pio Smith, regional director for Asia and the Pacific at the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), said that the suspension of U.S. assistance would impact more than nine million people in Afghanistan, as well as 1.2 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, due to the closure of critical health facilities.

“What happens when our work is not funded? Women give birth alone, in unsanitary conditions… Newborns die from preventable causes,” Smith said at a briefing in Geneva. “These are literally the world’s most vulnerable people.”

The warning follows President Donald J. Trump’s executive order last month imposing a 90-day pause on U.S. foreign development assistance while his administration reviews its efficiency and alignment with American foreign policy priorities.

Trump has also reinstated U.S. participation in international anti-abortion pacts, cutting off U.S. family planning funds for foreign organizations that provide or promote abortion services.

The funding freeze has raised concerns among aid groups worldwide. Riva Eskinazi, director of donor relations at the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), told Reuters that the suspension could force the organization to halt family planning and reproductive health services in parts of West Africa.

“We can foresee an increase in unintended pregnancies and maternal deaths,” Eskinazi said. “There is going to be a problem sending contraceptives to our members. It’s devastating.”

IPPF, a global network advocating for sexual and reproductive health rights, estimates it will lose at least $61 million in U.S. funding over the next four years across 13 countries, mostly in Africa.

Meanwhile, across the Asia-Pacific region, UNFPA receives about $77 million annually from the U.S., funding that is now at risk.

Afghanistan already has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, with a woman dying from preventable pregnancy complications every two hours, according to the U.N.

Smith warned that, without U.S. support, Afghanistan could see an additional 1,200 maternal deaths and 109,000 unintended pregnancies over the next four years, further deepening the country’s health crisis.